Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Skeins of Handspun Yarn

I am so frustrated that my time is so occupied right now. I haven't had much of a chance to do anything with the hope chest recently. However, I have finished spinning and plying the blended wool/alpaca fiber that I started a month or so ago. Here are the pictures. Miss Abigail is also learning to spin. She should have a small skein to enter in the county fair, I hope!

Amber, I actually made the spindles that I now use most often. They are very plain! I have four of them that are exactly the same. These spindles act as a "bobbin" for the spun yarn as well as well as a spindle to spin it. I think it is easier to ply the yarn off when the spindles, filled with spun singles, are exactly the same. My spindles are just a 12-inch length of 3/8-inch dowel rod with a 3-inch wooden wheel (make sure the dowel will fit into the hole in the wheel) and a small cup hook on the top of the dowel to focus the spin. I bought the wooden wheels online and then found the dowels precut at Hobby Lobby. You just need to be sure that the dowels are straight and not warped! I glued the wheel on the dowel with about 1 1/2 inches left at the bottom. I also "sharpened" the ends of the dowel just a little with a pencil sharpener and then I spent a lot of time sanding everything as smooth as possible, ending with #4 sandpaper. Each spindle cost only about $3.00. If you don't want to make spindles, there is a kit for a similar spindle on Amazon.com

The spindle that you see in this post is a large spindle that my husband bought somewhere. I don't like to spin on it, but it does have a large wheel, which makes it nice to ply the yarn, since it holds a lot. We have a couple of other nice spindles and I enjoy these, but I really like the ones I made myself the most. Go figure...

I can understand that you want a good quality spindle, but remember that almost any spindle will work, even my plain homemade ones. Perhaps a heavier wheel (hardwood) will help you later as the weight will help pull the twist a little faster. But, I wouldn't start out with a heavier spindle anyway. Beginning spinners often drop the spindle and a heavy one just makes that more likely. This tendency is also the reason you want it to be glued securely. ;o)

My advice...just buy a simple one, get started and then practice. Don't get discouraged, just keep doing it.

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Miss Abigail and Me

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Inspired by the premise that a girl really ought to take more into her marriage than her own charming self, this blog is a chronicle of the making of Abigail’s hope chest. A wider desire is to influence and help other girls prepare a splendid hope chest.

E-mail: kathleenmower@gmail.com

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